Social Good

#AintNoCinderella: Why women in India are sharing midnight selfies on social media

Women in India are posting selfies on social media at midnight for an important and empowering reason.

After Chandigarh resident Varnika Kundu shared a harrowing experience on Facebook, detailing how she had almost been abducted by two men while driving home around midnight, her call for women to be proactive about safety gained attention from thousands.

But while many have offered Kundu support and applauded her strength and quick thinking under the terrifying circumstances, Ramveer Bhatti — vice president of India's governing Bharatiya Janata Party — told CNN-News18 he feels the incident might have been avoided had the 29-year-old not been out so late.

In response to Bhatti questioning Kundu's late night outing, women in India have started sharing photos that show themselves out on the town at midnight with the badass hashtag #AintNoCinderella.

In Kundu's Facebook post, she explained that two men in a white SUV followed and harassed her on the road for over three miles (6 km) and if it weren't for police intervention she fears she might be "lying raped and murdered in a ditch somewhere."

Upon reading her emotional account of the incident it might seem crystal clear that the two men harassing and stalking her were in the wrong. However, much to the dismay of basically every female in the world, Bhatti challenged the crime by questioning what Kundu was doing so out so late in the first place.

"The girl should not have gone out at 12 in the night. Why was she driving so late in the night? The atmosphere is not right. We need to take care of ourselves," Bhatti told CNN-News18.

After hearing the politician's comments, Divya Spandana — Indian actress and former member of parliament — created #AintNoCinderella in an effort to remind the world that today's society isn't some 17th century fairytale where women should be held to a strict midnight curfew.

Using the hashtag, other women began sharing photographs of themselves living their lives regardless of the time of night, reiterating the fact that staying out late is not in any way encouraging or welcoming inappropriate behavior.

"Why shouldn't women go out after midnight?" Spandana toldBBC. "I'm asking people like Mr Bhatti who are they to set curfew hours for us? I want to ask him who is he to question us? This is such a regressive mindset."

After filing a complaint to the police station, Kundu wrote she learned the boys were "from influential families with political connections." As CNN-News18reported, one of the two boys was identified as Vikas Barala — son of Haryana BJP President Subhash Barala — which could explain why Bhatti may have been reluctant to comment directly on the boys' behavior.

"We all know most such cases of harassment go unpunished and even unreported. We know it’s not going to be an easy struggle."

However, this is far from the first time these sort of comments shaming women who have survived attacks or abuse have been made in India. Back in 2012 mass protests broke out in the country when a 23-year-old woman died after being gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi, India.

After protester and artist Ram Devineni asked a Delhi police officer what he thought about the assault, he was inspired to create and direct a transmedia comic book addressing sexual violence against women called, Priya's Shakti. "No good girl walks home alone at night," the officer told Devineni, implying — similarly to Bhatti — that he felt the attack on the girl was her own fault.

Kundu's father, Virender — an Indian Administrative Service officer — shared several lengthy Facebook statuses about the incident, supporting his daughter wholeheartedly. "I will be failing in my duty as a father to my daughter if I did not stand with her completely in this matter... As a father of two daughters, I feel compelled to take this matter to its logical conclusion," he wrote. "We all know most such cases of harassment go unpunished and even unreported. We know it’s not going to be an easy struggle."

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